Job applications, fraudulent or missing information, your career, and felonies

©Copyright LillyGrillzit all rights reserved Jan. 4, 2010 Response to Question asked on HubPages about the legality of an employer going back on an employees application and doing checks on work history, due to a Workman's Comp claim.

A fellow Hubber asked, if an employer can check references long after they have been working there. Below is Lilly's answer.

Can an employer check references long after you have been hired on?

Yes. Whenever you supply references for a job, in the US this is your proof that you are qualified for the position.

Looking at it another way, consider, that your long time employer is considering you for a promotion. With a promotion comes added responsibilities and trust. Your employer may re-verify education, training, certifications and past job experience. This is a way to make better business decisions, and assure their investment in you is warranted.

Any false, or misleading statements may lead to termination. That is on every application Lilly has ever filled out.

One year, Lilly was a supervisor in one of those well known seasonal tax businesses. It finally happened, a tax preparer was found to be committing fraud. As the news stations picked up the story, the business owners promised to do background checks on all 500 employees.

Lilly was not personally worried, but she almost lost two good employees, because they did not indicate they had been convicted of a felony on each of their applications. This is another question that is is plainly asked on every application. It puts a person who has reformed and paid their dues in a bad spot, but as it stands now, it is a cause for termination.

If a person fills out a job application and it carries false or misleading information, it is terms for dismissal.

After the News story broke, the owners sent out letters to every employee, letting them know that background checks would be conducted. They added, that if an employee had not disclosed they were past felons, they would be terminated.

Lilly got phone calls at home shortly afterward.

One was a student, and young mother. She was responsible enough to let Lilly know she was quitting and why. Lilly asked her to please not leave yet, and hold tight. Another employee simply e-mailed Lilly that he couldn't work there any longer. He was not as forth coming, and actually quit because he was embarrassed to bring up something that he thought was long buried.

Lilly went and spoke to the owners. She let them know they were about to lose a lot of good people due to their stance. They had a long conversation about the ethics and wording used in the notification. Lilly did get them to admit if they had been honest, they would NOT have hired them anyway...

Finally, good sense resumed, a retraction was immediately e-mailed, and changed to, if any applicants had committed felonies forbidding them from working in finance, they would be terminated, and possibly prosecuted...

They retained their jobs, and Lilly was able to retain good employees.

There is not a LillyGrillzit at every job, and this is seasonal work that is difficult to fill. All stories do not end so happily. These were very good people, who served their sentences years before, and had learned their lesson.